| "Don't Stop Believin'" | ||||||||
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| Single by Journey | ||||||||
| from the album Escape | ||||||||
| Released | October 1981 (US), December 1981 (UK)[1] |
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| Format | 7" vinyl | |||||||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||
| Length | 4:11 | |||||||
| Label | Columbia | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, Neal Schon | |||||||
| Producer | Kevin Elson, Mike Stone | |||||||
| Journey singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Don't Stop Believin'" is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape, which became a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on its original release. In the United Kingdom, the song was not a Top 40 hit on its original release; however, it did reach #4 on a 2009 re-release, having gained increased popularity through its use on American television.
Allmusic has described "Don't Stop Believin'" as "an anthem for the young who wanted to feel free and unrestricted", featuring "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock."[2]In 2011 it was voted Best Power Ballad On Earth on Btoe the review site founded by music writer Colin Larkin, author of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. As of November 2011, it is the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history.[3][4][5]
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The song reached number eight on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song was released in the United Kingdom in December 1981[1] and peaked only at number 62. However, the song, never re-released in the UK, retained a cult following and re-entered the UK Singles Chart in February 2009 at number 94, due to digital downloads. On December 22, 2009, it reached number 9 in the Christmas chart, and remained in the top 10 well into 2010, hitting a peak of number 6. It has now achieved 63 weeks on the official UK Top 75, making it the 9th longest runner of all time, and 89 weeks on the Top 100.[6]
It topped downloads in the iTunes Music Store amongst songs not released in the 21st century,[7] and was also the 72nd most downloaded song of 2008, and 84th most downloaded song of 2009 in the store, over 27 years after its release. On 31 August 2009 the song topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads,[3] and has sold 4,771,000 digital units in the US by October 2011.[8] It was placed just outside of the top twenty best selling digital songs of all time on September 2010.[9]
The song is one of the most popular rock tracks in Ireland and continues to remain in the top ten most downloaded songs.[10]
Weekly charts
*13 chart runs in 47 weeks 2009 — 2011. |
Year-end charts
All-time charts
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A string acoustic version of the song was used during the Robbie's wedding in the 1998 film The Wedding Singer.
On June 6, 2005, Family Guy featured this in the episode "Don't Make Me Over".
In 2007, the song gained press coverage for its use in the final scene of HBO's The Sopranos from the series finale "Made in America". Steve Perry was initially hesitant in allowing the song to be used in The Sopranos but later agreed.[16] The Sopranos ending was later parodied by The Daily Show, ESPN, WCBS-FM (when flipped from Jack FM back to Oldies), Celebrity Apprentice, a campaign video for Hillary Clinton[17][18] and for the final episode of Tony Martin's Get This radio show.
It also has been used in Scrubs, quoted as J.D.'s (Zach Braff) favorite song.
Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this song for their 2008 album Undeniable.
Also was a huge hit to many younger children through its use in Disney's Tron: Legacy bringing it back to popularity even through its digital release.
The song was released as downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band on March 31, 2009.[19] Unlike the album version which slowly fades to quiet, the Rock Band version ends with "Don't Stop", which is the same way it ended in the final episode of The Sopranos and in the pilot episode of Glee as well as how Journey ends the song live.
The song is also the closing number for the Broadway show Rock of Ages.
In the 2008 film Bedtime Stories, the song is played in one of the bedtime stories, when Sir Fix-a-Lot gets a chance to prove he is worthy. Everyone starts dancing to the song while gumballs rain from the ceiling. The song also has an appearance in the 2010 film The Losers. Jensen alias Chris Evans starts singing the song when breaking into an office building.
Part of the song can be heard in the 2010 film adaptation of Hanna-Barbara's Yogi Bear, during Mayor's Brown's press conference.
The song became a rallying cry for the Chicago White Sox in their successful run to the 2005 playoffs, when catcher A. J. Pierzynski and teammates heard the song being sung in a bar in Baltimore. The song was played at critical points during the stretch run of the pennant race, a season which culminated in the team's first World Series championship in over 80 years. The White Sox invited Journey lead singer Steve Perry to the team's celebration rally, where he sang the song along with several members of the team. In 2008, in a tight battle for first place with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers began to play "Don't Stop Believin'" in the middle of the 8th inning at all of their home games.[20] Subsequently, the song was played at Dodger home games throughout the 2009 season, much to the chagrin of Steve Perry, a self-proclaimed San Francisco Giants fan (the band itself formed in San Francisco).[20]
The song also became the unofficial anthem for the Giants' 2010 postseason, especially after local musician Ashkon created a parody version of the song following their winning the 2010 National League West Division.[21] The song was used during the end montage following the Fox network's coverage of the 2010 World Series, which was won by the Giants. Steve Perry appeared in the Giants' subsequent victory parade,[22] and the song was played at the start of the Giants' victory rally.[23]
Perhaps most notably in sports, the song has for years been commonly played at Detroit Red Wings hockey games; at Red Wings home games (especially during the last minutes of playoff victories), the recording is turned down during the line "born and raised in south Detroit", which the crowd then sings loudly.[24][25] It is also used at numerous Detroit sporting events.[26]
While most popular songs have a refrain that is repeated several times throughout the song, the true chorus to "Don't Stop Believin'" (as well as first mention of its title) is not heard until the end of the song with only 0:50 left. The song's writers designated the musically similar sections before the chorus as the "pre-chorus."[27] The song's structure is:
The song is played in the key of E Major at a tempo of 120bpm. The vocal range is E3-C#5.[28] The opening chords, which are played by the piano in the introduction and continued through most of the song, form a I-V-vi-IV pop-punk progression.[29]
The Finnish band Northern Kings covers the song on their album Reborn.
The 2007 "covers" album Guilt by Association Vol. 1 contains an a cappella version of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Petra Haden (member of That Dog and daughter of jazz bassist Charlie Haden) recorded via multiple vocal overdubs.
| "Don't Stop Believin' (Glee Cast version)" |
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| Single by Glee cast | ||||
| from the album Glee: The Music, Volume 1 | ||||
| Released | May 19, 2009 | |||
| Format | Digital download, CD Single | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:50 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, Neal Schon | |||
| Producer | Ryan Murphy, Adam Anders | |||
| Glee cast singles chronology | ||||
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"Don't Stop Believin'" was recorded by the cast of American television series, Glee. It is the first single released from the soundtrack of the series, Glee: The Music, Volume 1 and was performed on the first episode of the season, "Pilot".[30] A portion of the song was covered again in the episode "The Rhodes Not Taken". A second version was covered by the cast in the season finale episode "Journey to Regionals" for their Regionals competition, was also released as a single, and is included in the EP soundtrack, Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals. The Glee arrangement was adapted from Petra Haden's version.[31]
Released as a digital download on June 2, 2009, the song performed well in the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia, where it charted within the top five of their national charts. The cast performance of "Don't Stop Believin'" was certified gold in the US in October 2009 and platinum in March 2011, achieving over 1,000,000 digital sales,[32] and platinum in Australia, with sales of over 70,000.[33]
"Don't Stop Believin'" was put on the BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 playlists in the UK in January 2010.
Aly Semigan of Entertainment Weekly critically praised the song stating "Fox's Glee put the ultimate earworm back in its rightful place." She then continued saying "even if you aren’t one for show choirs (which, is quite frankly, shocking), it’s pretty damn hard to resist." Semigan also compared it to the original version stating "it sounds slightly different in this Freaks and Geeks meets High School Musical pilot, but it's a good kind of different."[34]
| "Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals version)" |
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| Song by Glee cast from the album Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals | ||||
| Released | June 8, 2010 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Recorded | 2010 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:44 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer | Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, Neal Schon | |||
| Producer | Ryan Murphy, Adam Anders | |||
| Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals track listing | ||||
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The Almighty Glee Glub did their remix version including a radio edit, club mix, dub mix and instrumental. Pop-Punk band All Time Low preformed a cover of this during several live concerts, and was featured once in a special of their Straight To DVD concert video.
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[37] | 5 |
| New Zealand (RIANZ)[38] | 16 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[39] | 4 |
| US Pop 100 (Billboard)[40] | 18 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[41] | 37 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[42] | 4 |
| Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[43] | 91 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[44] | 2 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[45] | 68 |
| France (SNEP)[46] | 48 |
| Germany (Media Control AG)[47] | 50 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[48] | 74 |
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[49] | Platinum |
| Chart (2010) | Position |
|---|---|
| European Hot 100 Singles [51] | 82 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[14] | 22 |
From the album Glee: The Music, Volume 1:
From the EP Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals:
The housemates of Big Brother 2010 recorded a version of the song, coached by Andrew Stone of Pineapple Dance Studios, in July 2010.[52] Stone also choreographed and shot a video of the performance. According to Digital Spy, the video "almost out-Glees Glee"[53] Steve and Rachel sang the lead vocals.
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